A Lagos-based auto dealer, Quadri Balogun, has alleged that some policemen in the Ikorodu area of the state pointed guns at him and a friend and threatened to shoot them before extorting N100,000.
Balogun recounted the incident in a telephone interview with PUNCH Metro on Wednesday.
According to him, the officers, who were riding in a minibus, intercepted his vehicle in the Itamaga area of Ikorodu while he was driving with a friend.
He said he presented his vehicle documents when stopped, but the officers allegedly refused to inspect them and instead ordered both occupants out of the car.
Balogun claimed that the policemen assaulted them after they stepped out and forced his friend into their minibus, while he was made to remain in his own vehicle.
“They drove us to the back of LASUSTECH. My friends who were expecting me began calling my phone, and when I picked up and explained what was happening, the officers accused me of trying to mobilise people,” he said.
“They later took us to a bushy and isolated area, pointed guns at us and threatened to kill us, saying nothing would happen.”
He further alleged that the officers seized his phone and wristwatch and accused him of taking their photographs.
“They demanded N5 million before they would release us,” he added.
Balogun said after prolonged negotiations, the officers reduced the demand to N100,000, which he and his friend had to source from family members.
According to him, they were taken to a Point of Sale operator and compelled to withdraw the money, which the officers allegedly collected before releasing them.
“They insisted on N100,000 after we told them we didn’t have money. We had to borrow from relatives and withdraw it through a PoS. That was when they let us go,” he said.
The auto dealer described the experience as traumatic.
“Since the incident, I haven’t been myself. I was scared when they pointed guns at us,” he added.
When contacted, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Adebisi, urged the victims to formally report the matter to the police complaints unit for investigation.
In an SMS sent to the PUNCH Metro on Wednesday, the PPRO wrote, “09111111151 CRU. Contact the Complaints Response Unit on this.”
Incidents of alleged police extortion have remained a recurring complaint among residents of the state.
On January 6, PUNCH Metro reported that a Lagos-based plumber accused officers of extorting N70,000 from him during a stop-and-search operation near the Otedola Bridge area.
Similarly, on January 29, a mechanical engineer alleged that officers attached to the Area J Command in Ajah extorted N250,000 from him under similar circumstances.
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